We had a successful drive to Washington. We made it all in one day. The kids were pretty great. Lily was very sick and slept nearly the whole time. The boys and Annie were troopers. Lots of stops at McDonald's help to ease the pain of sitting in the car.
On our first full day in Washington, we celebrated with the Thulins. They hosted a family dinner and games at their house. We love getting to see everyone and see how much their kids have grown.
We played a fun game of Christmas charades. Joey didn't quite understand what was going on, but he liked everyone laughing and acting silly.
And he liked sharing treats with Puna.
Christmas Eve was Sunday. I always love when the holiday is on a Sunday. It makes church feel a little more special. Puna sent us her choir music, so Daddy and Mommy got to sing in a choir for the first time in years. We dressed all the kids in their Christmas best and tried to get out the door. Poor Tommy was in tears because he didn't want to wear a Christmas sweater. Joey found it hilarious that Tommy was so broken up about the sweater. So much for a good picture of all the kids in their cute clothes. Instead we have Tommy in a ball on the ground.
After church we convinced Tommy to take a picture. We told him he could take one of us first. He did a pretty good job, he got most of our heads in the shot.
And then he was all smiles.
We realized we needed cookies to set out for Santa - so we made six dozen sugar cookies!
The thought of making frosting while trying to prepare a Christmas dinner was not appealing, so we just sprinkled colored sugar on the cookies before baking.
While we waited for the cookies, the kids built a blanket fort in the family room, Daddy and Uncle Brady played Battleship, and Lily stayed on the couch trying to rest.
That night we had the missionaries over for dinner and some carol singing. Uncle Norm wasn't feeling well, but Auntie Sue made it over to join us.
The kids got to open their jammies from Mommy and Daddy. They were so excited about Santa that we couldn't get them to hold still and all focus on the same camera. It is so hard to wind down when Santa could come at any moment.
Annie wanted to be in charge of the note and cookies. I think we left a plate of 12 cookies out. Porr Santa had quite a job finishing all those cookies. The reindeer got a few baby carrots too. The note from Annie reads: "To Santa, Thank you for all the gifts, hope you have a great night. From the Halls"
And with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads, we all went to bed to await the magic of Christmas morning.
Annie was the first one up. She is usually the last one up at home. She was really hoping for a Hatchimal, and she got one.
Joey was so happy to get a horsey. He spent all morning hugging it and trying to ride it.
The kids were up before the sun. It was hard to wake up Uncle Brady and the grandparents, but eventually everyone made it down stairs.
Papa decked us out with festive necklaces.
We spent so much time waiting for this cute little egg to crack open. The whole family was excited for Annie to find out what kind of bird would be inside her egg. Everyone got a turn to hold the egg and keep it warm.
Joey got a new blankie from the girls. He loves having a blanket big enough to wrap up inside.
Papa gave Puna this cute Scrooge nutcracker as a way to remember her experiences with Scrooge the musical in November.
Uncle Brady was excited to get skis. We'll have to take him skiing with us this winter.
After hours of carefully tending the egg, our baby bird finally started to break through.
She popped out just in time for breakfast.
What a wonderful Christmas morning!
Since we always have December snow in Idaho, the kids don't realize what a treat it is to get a white Christmas in the Seattle area. There was so much snow on the ground. All the guys decided to build a giant snowman. Lily was too sick and Annie was too worried about her little Hatchimal to want to go outside.
How many men, ramps, step stools, and ladders does it take to build a snowman?
Joey liked being on the very top.
That is one impressive creation. Unfortunately, he didn't live long. The warm weather and heavy snow caused a collapse.
Daddy and Joey had a good wrestle. Joey is always happiest when he's "wraslin".
The kids always look forward to soaking in Puna and Papa's giant bath tub.
Lily still hadn't improved much by the morning after Christmas, and Mommy was pretty sure she was also coming down with an infection (she spent most of the night sick in the bathroom), so we spent the day after Christmas sharing germs at the Urgent Care clinic. Lily was checked for pneumonia and bronchitis, but was clear. The diagnosis was influenza. Mommy's diagnosis was a UTI. We got a Jamba Juice smoothie to help us feel a little better. Puna was kind enough to pick up our medications and let us go home to rest.
That night we built gingerbread houses. The kids were excited to get to build another house. It was a nice way to spend a quiet evening together.
Papa was a good helper. But it is hard for him to let the kids do things that aren't logical with their houses and candy. Welcome to parenting 4 kids Papa, nothing makes sense most days.
Lily started to get a little better, Daddy was now coming down with something, Mommy was feeling pretty yucky, but the kids really wanted to go to the cabin and ride snowmobiles. We packed everyone up and went to the property. The guys got in a short ride and warmed up the cabin for us.
We all went into Leavenworth. While waiting for a parking spot, our van lost traction on the ice, someone took our parking spot while they watched us obviously struggling to get up the hill. Thankfully we were able to get up the slick hill after a few tries. We ended up parking near Papa and walked a few blocks to the town sledding hill.
Conditions were treacherous. It was almost impossible to walk up the hill. It was solid ice. While everyone took turns on the hill, Puna decided to go window shopping.
We had a few nail biting runs down the icy hill, and we were just about to take the kids in to warm up when some strangers came toward us with a very dazed looking Puna. She had fallen on the icy sidewalk and landed smack on the back of her head. She was making sense but was obviously not quite herself. She had a bump the size of an egg on the back of her head. We wanted to take her to the ER in town, but Papa thought we should wait. Lily was so cold due to her fever that she was shivering and crying. Tommy was having a potty emergency. Everyone was hungry. It was a little crazy. We tried going to a Mexican restaurant to get dinner. Joey was a stinker and just kept making trouble. Mommy was so stressed and sick from her medication that she spent a lot of time in the bathroom. Lily was cold and wet because she had somehow gotten her feet wet, so we were all taking off our extra layers and wrapping them around her. Tommy was refusing to eat because the food looked gross. Jeremy was ready to strangle Joey. Puna was delirious and was trying to stay still while holding an ice pack against her head. Every time someone walked past our rag tag table, Puna would announce to them "I hit my head. Really hard" and she sounded like a little child. We were a pathetic bunch: crying, puking, feverish, hungry, worried, concussion. I bet the restaurant was so happy when we left.
We snuggled down at the cabin that night to watch a movie and recover from the day. The girls wanted to check on Puna and sleep in the camper that night with Puna and Papa.
The next morning we tried to make the best of it and let the kids play in the snow.
Annie was looking forward to riding snow mobiles. She loved every minute of it.
Puna felt well enough to get some breakfast. We went to the Squirrel Tree.
The girls were excited to get their own cups of hot chocolate.
Then everyone loaded back on the machines to go back to the cabin.
The snow started falling harder (and to be honest we were really worried about Puna), so we decided to go home a day early. The roads over the pass were very snowy. We even saw a car being pushed over the pass by a roadside assistance truck. It felt good to get out of the weather system and reach dry roads again.
We made a stop at the Reptile Zoo in Monroe. The boys had never been there before and they were fascinated by all the creatures. The soft shell turtle was one of their favorites. They circles the tank watching him swim and putting their hands up to the glass.
Joey liked all the animals but he sure didn't want to touch any of them.
When we got tired of standing and walking, we sat down for a coloring break.
It was a little intimidating to get near the glass with this big guy. He looks like he could swallow my kids whole!
The two headed turtle was really interesting. While we enjoyed that, Uncle Brady and Daddy were switching signs on the tanks of pet friendly animals and lethal animals.
Daddy got really sick with the flu when we returned from the cabin. Fever, aches, fatigue, etc. The next day it hit Tommy. We were supposed to stay for another few days in Washington, but we knew we just needed to get home, let Puna rest, and let ourselves rest. It was a miserable drive back. Tommy was puking and everyone except Annie and Mommy were coughing and sick.
Tommy threw up on Dad at one rest stop. Then Mommy got thrown up at the next one when we stopped for dinner. He tried to drink some Sprite and eat french fries but threw them up quickly afterward. All day long Daddy was taking Advil and dressing and undressing in the car to keep up with his fever and chills.
Tommy wanted to watch movies in the car, but his illness made the screen too bright, so he got to wear mommy's sunglasses. We had hoped to make it home in one day, but Jeremy was so wiped out and Tommy was so sick that we knew a night in a hotel would be safer for all of us. We had a restful night and started fresh the next day. Only one problem, it was Sunday and we didn't want the kids to see us go shopping on the Sabbath and think that was ok. So we had to pull some frozen chicken out and give our Instant Pot it's first try. The chicken turned out perfectly. We were all so happy to eat some plain chicken and rice, take showers and baths, and go to bed early.
Not exactly how we had planned to end our 2017, but we were glad to be home safely. And we're so glad we got to spend most of the holidays with the Wanners. Happy New Year to us! We are ready to put 2017 behind us and start fresh.
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